United Nations Environment Programme

An analysis of pathways towards sustainable development needs a long-term vision. Ideally, such a vision is summarized in a quantitative set of globally agreed key objectives or targets. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in September 2015, conceptualizes sustainable development through 17 SDGs and is further operationalized...

Various policy approaches show that water quantity and quality have serious implications for human and ecosystem health, and that these interactions are driven by changes in multiple sectors. Governance is increasingly opened up to non-State actors, such as the private sector and civil society. Decision-making thus needs to consider the full range...

The Global Environment Outlook (GEO) is the result of a consultative and participatory process to prepare an independent assessment of the state of the environment, the effectiveness of the policy response in addressing environmental challenges and the possible pathways to achieving various internationally agreed environmental goals. The GEO is a...

The composition of Earth’s atmosphere is one of the major determinants of a healthy planet, influencing the climate, ecosystems and human health. This is highlighted by the existence of a direct or indirect link between the challenges of air pollution, climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT)...

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, together with a range of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), set an ambitious long-term vision for the universal pursuit of sustainable development through economic, social, environmental and institutional transformation (Chapter 20). Although progress has been made in managing some...

This chapter introduces Part B of GEO-6: Policies, Goals, Objectives and Environmental Governance: An Assessment of Their Effectiveness.

This chapter evaluates the capacity of environmental policies to achieve transformational change in addressing cross-cutting global sustainable development challenges. To this end, the chapter addresses the major challenges of adapting socioeconomic systems to climate change, creating a sustainable agricultural and food production system...

Providing a decent life and well-being for nearly 10 billion1 people by 2050, without further compromising the ecological limits of our planet and its benefits, is one of the most serious challenges and responsibilities humanity has ever faced. People worldwide rely on the smooth functioning of Earth’s natural life-support systems, in different...

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the current Land and Soil policy framework and the related shortcomings, especially in terms of policy cohesion and implementation, as well as overall effectiveness. The subsequent sections present case studies of different sets of legal and policy instruments, economic tools and incentives, as well...

The importance of good policy design cannot be overstressed. Some common elements are: i. setting a long-term vision and avoiding crisis-mode policy decisions, through inclusive, participatory design processes; ii. establishing a baseline, quantified targets and milestones; iii. conducting ex ante and ex post cost–benefit or costeffectiveness...